Sanded down the gel coat and got down to the carbon fiber matrix of the head tube, & scuffed up the metal of the headset adaptor.

Cleaned and proceeded with the first layer of e-glass (fiberglass) anti-corrosion layer bonded to the raw aluminum of the headset adaptor. Hands were sticky at this point so gave up on pics. LOL ... Continued to lay up unidirectional 12K carbon fiber tow (from a roll), followed by a 2x2 twill strip, more 12k tow, another strip, and more 12k tow. Finally pulled plastic wrap over it to compact all the layers.

...(im)patiently waiting for everything to cure...... looking at project bike #3 in the back considering what to start on next.....

The end result looks familiar. You should be good to go in another 8 hrs.

Have you considered post curing? It just might be worth the effort.
I'd be worried that things goes soft in the sun, if you don't post cure it.

Magura

No worries - I stole my wife's hair dryer hehe....besides, it's already very firm without the CF reinforcement. If it does go soft it'll go soft when I start riding in summer when hit hits 47-50 deg C and I'll already be dead from heat stroke or something similar.

No worries - I stole my wife's hair dryer hehe....besides, it's already very firm without the CF reinforcement. If it does go soft it'll go soft when I start riding in summer when hit hits 47-50 deg C

-S

LOL, better do the post curing, before she figures the hairdryer is gone.

Stuff like that is usually not going down well at my place.
Whenever something like that is missing, the response is never "have you seen my (insert useful female toy)honey ?", but rather "where is the (insert thing she believes belongs to her, that she can't find)? Have you taken it apart?".
It's not even a remote possibility that I am not guilty

LOL, better do the post curing, before she figures the hairdryer is gone.

Stuff like that is usually not going down well at my place.
Whenever something like that is missing, the response is never "have you seen my (insert useful female toy)honey ?", but rather "where is the (insert thing she believes belongs to her, that she can't find)? Have you taken it apart?".
It's not even a remote possibility that I am not guilty

Magura

Over here I'm guilty of not putting things back where they belong... and she goes "No I hid it from you because after you use it I can never find it."

Question: By lengthening the head tube, will it have any effect on performance? Or is the only difference a stronger head tube? I know the angle didn't change but did the ride height?

The fork is longer (150mm travel) and the adaptor only increased the effective head tube by 10.5mm, so I expected it to lift the front end up some. I tried really hard when designing the aluminum adaptor to keep the stack height change as little as possible without compromising the strength of the adaptor piece. The old Fox Talas fork was 125mm which was a little shorter than what the frame was designed for (130-140) so it was at the lower limit at that point.

Geometry wise, I'm still within the design specs for the frame. The marginally longer head tube will still stay about the same in strength, but the strength gain will probably be in the fork because it has a tapered carbon steerer and crown. Ride height went up about 8mm and the wheelbase increased (couldn't measure this accurately).

I found the fit and handling improved in the few test rides I took before laying up the carbon reinforcement. Lifting the front end a hair did take some weight off my arms and that helped my CTS symptoms (numbness) in my hands.